Endometriosis is a common cause of infertility and disabling pelvic pain in reproductive age women. The most widely accepted theory of its pathogenesis is the retrograde flow of menstrual products, although extra-abdominal and extrapelvic diagnoses have been made. After the pelvic peritoneum and gynecologic structures, the most commonly affected sites are the lower gastrointestinal and urinary tracts. When the urinary tract is involved, the bladder is the predominant site, followed by the ureters. The focus of this seminar will thus be these two anatomic sites...

BACKGROUND: Helminth infections have proven recalcitrant to control by chemotherapy in many parts of Southeast Asia and indeed farther afield. This study isolates and examines the influence of different aspects of the physical and social environment, and uneven intervention effort contributing to the pathogenic landscape of human Opisthorchis viverrini infections. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey, involving 632 participants, was conducted in four villages in northeast Thailand to examine the impact on prevalence and parasite burden of the reservoir dam environment, socio-economic, demographic, and behavioral factors, and health center intervention efforts...

BACKGROUND: There is renewed interest in effective measures to control Zika and dengue vectors. A synthesis of published literature with a focus on the quality of evidence is warranted to determine the effectiveness of vector control strategies. METHODOLOGY: We conducted a meta-review assessing the effectiveness of any Aedes control measure. We searched Scopus and Medline for relevant reviews through to May 2016. Titles, abstracts and full texts were assessed independently for inclusion by two authors...

BACKGROUND: Most biospecimens in the US are collected from non-Hispanic Whites, limiting the generalizability of findings. There is a need to increase participation in biobanking among ethnic and racial minorities. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative methods to identify factors that may influence Mexican-American individuals' willingness to participate in biobanking. METHODS: We conducted 15 focus groups in three Texas cities with Mexican-American individuals, in both Spanish and English...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of mobile phone applications (apps) on glycemic control (HbA1c) in the self-management of diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Relevant studies that were published between 1 January 1996 and 1 June 2015 were searched from five databases: Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase. Randomized controlled trials that evaluated diabetes apps were included. We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis and GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) of the evidence...

Importance: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease and increased arterial inflammation. In HIV, inflammation is also increased within lymph nodes (LNs), tissues known to harbor the virus even among treated and suppressed individuals. Objective: To test the hypothesis that arterial inflammation is linked to HIV disease activity and to inflammation within HIV-infected tissues (LNs). Design, Setting, and Participants: For this case-control study, participants were recruited from the SCOPE (Observational Study of the Consequences of the Protease Inhibitor Era) cohort, a clinic-based cohort of individuals receiving care at San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco Veteran's Affairs Medical Center...

Purpose: To evaluate morphologic changes of lens regeneration in rats in vivo after extracapsular lens extraction (ECLE) by ultra-long scan depth optical coherence tomography (UL-OCT). Methods: A total of 42 Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. We performed ECLE on the right eyes of animals in the surgery group (n = 34). Biomicroscopy and UL-OCT scans were carried out for the surgery group immediately (within 1 hour postoperatively) and at days 1 and 3, weeks 1 and 2, and months 1, 2, and 3 postoperatively...

Importance: Early-onset major depressive disorder (MDD) is common in individuals at high familial risk of depression and is associated with poor long-term mental health, social, and educational outcomes. Objectives: To examine the developmental pathways that lead to first-episode adolescent-onset MDD (incident cases) in those at high familial risk and to postulate a theoretically informed model that enables simultaneous testing of different pathways to incident adolescent-onset MDD composed of contributions from familial/genetic and social risk factors, as well as effects via specific clinical antecedents...

Importance: Neurophysiologic measures of early auditory information processing (EAP) are used as endophenotypes in genomic studies and biomarkers in clinical intervention studies. Research in schizophrenia has established correlations among measures of EAP, cognition, clinical symptoms, and functional outcome. Clarifying these associations by determining the pathways through which deficits in EAP affect functioning would suggest when and where to therapeutically intervene. Objectives: To characterize the pathways from EAP to outcome and to estimate the extent to which enhancement of basic information processing might improve cognition and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia...

OBJECTIVE: The therapeutic target level for the blood pressure (BP) on antihypertensive drug treatment in older hypertensive patients is still extensively debated. We assessed the achieved BP levels in older treated hypertensive patients in a representative sample of the population. DESIGN: During the 2006 Ontario Survey on the Prevalence and Control of Hypertension, BP (using the SPRINT protocol) and treatment data were collected in 2551 respondents from a random and representative sample of the adult (20-79 years) population...

BACKGROUND: Although relatively uncommon, neurological deficits following hip and knee arthroplasty can have permanent and debilitating consequences. This study was conducted to quantify the effectiveness of an educational curriculum aimed at standardizing the identification of and acute response to postoperative neurological deficits in the inpatient setting, specifically with respect to improvements in clinician knowledge, confidence levels, and communication skills. METHODS: A multidisciplinary committee at a single, high-volume academic institution created an algorithm delineating the appropriate clinical actions and escalation procedures in the setting of a postoperative neurological deficit for each clinical practitioner involved in care for patients who undergo arthroplasty...

INTRODUCTION: People living with HIV (PLWH) need to adhere to antiretroviral therapy (ART) to achieve optimal health. One reason for ART nonadherence is HIV-related stigma. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine whether HIV treatment self-efficacy (an intrapersonal mechanism) mediates the stigma-adherence association. We also examined whether self-efficacy and the concern about being seen while taking HIV medication (an interpersonal mechanism) are parallel mediators independent of each other...

OBJECTIVE: To examine pregnant women's gestational weight gain expectations and advice from various sources (ie, self, family and friends, physician) and the association of these sources of expectations and advice with measured gestational weight gain. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a cohort study of 230 pregnant women in their second pregnancy. Each woman was queried at 12 weeks of gestation about the amount of weight: 1) she felt was "healthy" to gain, 2) she expected to gain, 3) her friends and family thought she should gain, and 4) the specificity of her physician's advice about gestational weight gain...

OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in cervical cancer screening after the 2009 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' guideline change and to determine predictors associated with underscreening and overscreening among Medicaid-enrolled women. METHODS: We performed an observational cohort study of Pennsylvania Medicaid claims from 2007 to 2013. We evaluated guideline adherence of 18- to 64-year-old continuously enrolled women before and after the 2009 guideline change...

OBJECTIVE: The term frailty is frequently used during decision-making in transcatheter heart valve procedures. Nevertheless, frailty is still measured by eyeballing rather than by using standardized frailty assessments. In a previous study, we developed a frailty score in a cardiac surgical patient population including patients, who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Here, we present the results from the subsequent validation study focusing on the TAVR cohort. METHODS: One hundred thirty patients underwent TAVR...